


Dancing with Darkness

by DragonLover19



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Death, Enemies to Friends, Everybody Still Hates Maxwell, F/M, Mild Language, Monsters, Shadow Wilson, Sign Language, Triumphant Wilson - Freeform, Violence, WX-78 Hates Everybody, Webber is a sweet boy, Wilson is a confused Grue, crafting, foraging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-05-07 19:26:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19215952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonLover19/pseuds/DragonLover19
Summary: "It's not that I want to." His voice was soft, barely above a whisper. If she wasn't laying right beside him, she wasn't sure if she could hear him. "I don't want to hurt you. Or anyone else. It's just..." He paused, looking at his hand."You can't." She turned her head, looking into his eyes. "You can't because you can't control it. And she won't allow it. Does she?" He didn't give her an answer, but his silence was enough for her.





	1. Near Night Encounter

Summer, Day 7

~*~

A distant sound echoed in the air. One that this part of the constant had grown used to hearing over the days and nights. A steady rhythm that permeated in the sky, across the fields, over the small pounds, and through the thick forest. A heavy sound of an axe’s blade cutting deep into the side of a thick tree, taking its time with each swing of the blade that felt no rush to hurry along. An easy, slow, calm steady sound of an axe cutting into the wood.

With a final swing of the axe, the tree groaned, pitching forward and landing on the ground with a hard, loud, THUD. In the distance, birds took to the sky in surprise, not expecting the ground which they once stood on moments ago to suddenly shake with accompany of a startling loud sound.

The axe, with its job down, was set against the stump where the tree once stood. Its owner sighed, stretching out their back till an audible _pop_ was heard. The owner of the axe was a young woman around her early twenties. Her skin was fair, if not a little pale, with dark black lock of hair that was tie in two ponytails that curled up at the end. Her button up shirt was red, and her skirt that reached past her knees was black along with her short heeled boots and socks.

Grabbing her axe, she set to work chopping the wood up into manageable pieces. She was in a rather fine mood today. Considering aside from the fact that she was stuck in a strange world of monsters, constant hunger, and threat of the dark, she was in a relatively good mood. Why? Well, no reason really.

Today had been a fairly decent day. Her crops were growing, no Hounds have attacked yet, and the heat was just perfect for her today. She was only out here to gather wood for her fire for tonight. She wasn’t planning on sleeping tonight, as she normally would on other nights. It was warm out, so she wanted to spend as much time awake to enjoy the heat rather than rest inside her tent and wait till morning came.

Cutting up the tree in comfortable sizes, she gathered up her logs, stuffing them into a bag and slinging it over her shoulder, and headed back for her base. Forest slowly faded away in the distance as a grassy open plain surrounded her. Once the last of the trees were gone, she reached into her pocket, taking out an old teddy bear, holding it up with a smile.

“Isn’t today a good day Bernie?” She asked the bear. “The sky is clear to let the sun shine, the bass is full of yummy food, nothing is trying to kill us so far. And we’ve got plenty of wood to last the night!”

She made the bear nod its head.

“What’s that?” She put the bear close to her ear. “You want to know if I’m going to enjoy the fire tonight? Why of course silly! Who wouldn’t enjoy watching the fire? Especially one with blue flames!” She giggled, skipping the rest of the way back to her camp.

Her camp was located in the middle of the grassland, surrounded by a wall of stone she had crafted herself. It mainly consisted of a tent, ice box, a couple of gardens, two drying racks, a crockpot, chests, and a pair of fire pits. A normal fire pit, which she used for the winter and spring, and, her favorite so far, an endothermic fire pit. She didn’t use the endothermic fire pit often, only in the summer when things started to get too hot for her base to handle. The many times she had to rebuild was limitless thanks to her tendency to enjoy fire a little too much.

Once she was inside the safety of her small makeshift home, she set her bag aside, taking out a log and setting it inside the endothermic fire pit. She had to refrain from setting the log on fire right then and there, and instead turned her focus on the crockpot set up beside her tent. She took in a whiff of air, smiling as the meaty smell hit her nose.

“Looks like we came back just in time Bernie!” She held up the bear, lifting the lid off. Steam wafted out as she reached in and took out a meatball. “Nice and hot! Just how we like it!” She popped the meatball into her mouth, savoring the flavor. “Really hits the spot.” She took out another meatball, pressing it against the teddy bear’s face. “Come on Bernie, you need to eat too!”

After her meal, she set to work doing her usual chores. Hanging meat, picking ripe crops, making sure her tent was in top condition, checking the stone wall for any cracks or weak points and fix it, and making sure nothing was spoiled in the ice box.

“Looks like everything is still in top shape Bernie.” She smiled as dusk soon fell, taking out a small lighter and lighting the log she had place in the endothermic fire pit. Her smile grew as the golden flames turned into an icy blue, growing higher and higher as it fed on the wood. She ogled at the sight of oddly cold fire for a minute before looking back at the bear. “What’s that Bernie? You’re getting hungry? Yeah, I’m getting a little hungry too.”

Standing up, she headed to the crockpot, already having an idea what to have for dinner. “How about some spicy chili for dinner? It’s been way too long since the last time we had some, and I’m feeling hungry for some chili!”

Silence only answered her, but it didn’t diminish her mood. She was used to the silence. “Of course I’m making it extra hot! That’s what chili is all about! It’s not chili if it isn’t hot!” She started filling the crockpot with ingredients, but paused and looked at the bear. “What? Yes I have all the ingredients! I wouldn’t be making it if I didn’t have all the stuff I needed!”

The bear silently stared at her. “What?! That’s not true! Look!” She held up the items as she continued to speak. “I have jerky! Morsel I got from a rabbit!” She went over to the ice box and opened wide for the bear to see. “Carrots and—!” She paused. She looked carefully in the icebox, frowning deeply. “… uuuh oh.” She said quietly as she checked, rechecked, and checked again to be sure she wasn’t mistaken.

But to her horror, she wasn’t. “Eh heh heh. We… don’t have any mushrooms.” She mumbled, closing the ice box. She turned on her heels, suddenly putting on a serious face with her hands on her hips. “Bernie! You were supposed to tell me when we were running low on mushrooms!” The bear stared back at her. “Don’t give me that excuse! Your job was to make sure we had a full stock of mushrooms so that we wouldn’t run out of them! It’s your one job!”

The bear’s single button eye stared at her. “I know it’s not your _main_ job, but it’s still _your_ responsibility!” The young woman sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Greeeat. Now I’m going to have to go out to look for mushrooms.” She shot a glare at the bear. “No! I don’t want to eat something else! I want some spicy chili! It’s been way too long since I’ve had any and I want some tonight!”

The bear sat slumped on the chest. “ _Be-cause_ I don’t know how to make chili with other ingredients! You know I only figured out how to make chili was because I was only throwing stuff in the crockpot!” She sighed, looking out to the distance. The forest looked tiny in the distance, jutting out against the redden sky like toothpicks. Her shoulders slumped. It was going to be a long walk, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to make it back to camp before dark if she left now to look for mushrooms.

“I know it’s a bad idea to go out now Bernie. But…” She looked at the crockpot, rubbing her knuckles. “I really, really want _chilllliii._ ” She weighed her options. She could stay at camp where it was safe against the approaching darkness and have something else to eat tonight, oooor she could take the risk and head out now to grab a mushroom and come back before night fell.

Should she stay where it was safe? Or should she take the risk? Was her life worth risking just to get one mushroom? Or should she give in to the demands of her hunger? Stay and be safe? Go and satisfy her hunger?

She looked back at the forest, then at her camp. Her bear continued to sit on the chest, staring at her with no sound or movement. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she decided.

“If I run and go now, I’ll be back before night falls.” She nodded her head, stepping out beyond the walls protection before stopping a few feet. “No! Bernie, you stay here and guard the base!” The bear stared at her. “Well think of this as pay back for not telling me we were running out of mushrooms!” Silence. She turned her head, huffing. “I won’t be gone _that_ long! Only a short trip and back! I don’t need you for this!”

The bear continued to stare at her. With a growl, she stomped off. “I can take care of myself Bernie! I’m not a little girl anymore!” She yelled, heading off towards the forest. “Besides, there’s nothing dangerous in the forest!”

The bear sat on the chest as the woman’s figure slowly faded into the distance in a tiny speck. It then proceeded to flop on its side.

~*~

The trip to the forest was easy enough once she got there, and judging by the color of the sky, she still had plenty of dusk left before night fell and darkness covered the world.

But there was one small problem she did not foresee once she reached the wooden plain.

“Why are mushrooms so hard to find?!” She growled as she looked around, searching the thick tree covered forest floor for the mushroom she desired. “There’s got to be some around here somewhere! I know I’ve seen some around here!” She stopped, taking in a deep breath. “Okay, calm down Willow. You can’t get over worked by this.”

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly after holding it in for a few seconds. “You know that this forest has plenty of mushrooms in it. You didn’t pick them all because the last you did that, you burned down the last forest.” Her hand nervously went into her pocket, running her thumb over her prized item. The memory of the last forest bubbled into her mind, and she looked around the forest with nervous glee and wanting. But she shook her head. “No! We need the forest Willow. You know why we don’t stay near any forests anymore.”

She looked up at the tall trees, daring them slightly to try and move. The wood oaks only stood there, branches swaying with the wind. Its green color made her feel sick. Green wasn’t her favorite color. But red. Red was a beautiful color. It was the color of apples, and birds, and blood, and pretty fire as it ate away everything foolish enough in its path and give off such a lovely warm—

She gasped, pulling back her lighter that was just a few inches away from setting the tree on fire. She didn’t realize how close she had gotten to burning down the whole forest just then. While she would love to see this whole place go up in flames, she had to restrain herself. Things didn’t grow back once it was all burned to the ground. That mistake she wouldn’t make again anytime soon.

She stepped away from the tree, pocketing her lighter and returned to her previous task in finding mushrooms. “I’m really regretting not bringing Bernie with me.” She mumbled, rubbing her knuckles. “But it was his fault that in this mess! He knows that he should keep an eye on the mushroom supply!” She kick away some flint. “It’s fine. It’s fine. You just got to keep looking.”

It was easier said than done as she continued with her search. She continued on deeper and deeper into the forest, looking for the mushroom though increasingly coming up empty handed and growing frustrated by the minute.

“Augh! Come on! I know there’s got to be some mushrooms around here somewhere!” She screamed into the sky when she still hadn’t found any mushrooms. Sighing, she decided that it was time to head back to base. “I just wanted chili. That’s all I wanted tonight was chili. Is that too much to ask?”

A crow shot past letting out a loud hoarse cry, startling her so much that she fell backwards and landed on her back. A sudden raw emotion bubbled inside her chest as the bird fell away in the distance. Grabbing the first item her hand grasped inside her pocket, she flung it at the long gone bird. “SCREW YOU BIRD!”

Standing up, she turned to the tree next to her and gave it a swift kick. “Screw this place! Screw everything! Screw hunger and Hounds and Tallbirds and pig people and spiders and monsters!” She kept kicking the tree, kicking with all her might as she kept listing everything that she hated in this horrible place. “Screw Clockwords and Tentacles and Krampus and frogs and Merms and Vargs!” She reached into her pocket. “And **_especially_** , _SCREW YOU **MAXWELL!**_ ” She screamed, pulling out her lighter to set the tree on fire.

… Only. It wasn’t her lighter.

She stared at the pinecone in her hand that she was pointing threateningly at the tree. A pinecone that _should_ be her little lighter and burning this stupid mocking tree before and everything else in this forest for making her feel bad and wasting her time looking for a mushroom. But it wasn’t her lighter.

Dropping the pinecone, she reached into her pockets with a growl, searching for her prized possession so she could burn something. Her anger slowly morphed into confusion as she kept searching her pockets yet could not feel the familiar touch of her little lighter. Her search became frantic as she turned out her pockets, dumping all her gathered items to the ground and there was still no sign of her littler red lighter.

“Where is it?!” She got down on her knees, spreading the items out, looking for the lighter with distraught. “Where is it?! Where is it where is it _where is it?!_ ” She stopped her search through the items after it became clear there was no sign of her lighter, standing up with frantic worry. She tried to think back when she last had her lighter. Remembering the cool metal touching her fingers as she grasped it, holding it out and watching the fire flicker to life.

She remembered reaching into her pocket and throwing something at the bird and—

Her eyes widened. She threw the first thing her hand grabbed onto when she reached into her pockets earlier! That item must have been her lighter!

“SHIT!” Turning on her heels, she went to where she had tossed her lighter, breaking through the bushes and looking around till her eyes landed on the familiar red item. Sighing with relief, she scoop up her precious item, hugging it close to her chest. “ _That_ was a close call.” She chuckled slightly, pocketing her lighter and moved to head back to base, when her eyes landed on something else.

Something a little ways off ahead of her, just out where the trees parted ways to let the dying sunlight in. “MUSHROOM!” She cried joyously, throwing her hands up in the air. “Ha! Take that Maxwell!” She smiled, skipping over to the mushroom and bending down to look at it. “Huh, green cap mushrooms. Never thought I’d be happy to see you guys.” She poked the tallest mushroom, smiling as the thought of chili entered her mind. “You are going to make the greatest chili tonight.” Her mouth watered as she reached for the mushrooms. Just as her fingers grazed the tip of the caps edges, the mushroom sunk into the ground.

“Huh?!” She jumped back, blinking in surprise. “Hey! You’re not supposed to sink in the ground just when I’m about to pick you!” She yelled at it, getting on her hands and knees. “You’re supposed to stay out at dusk! … I think.” She sat up, thinking about all the mushrooms and what times they came out. “Let’s see… How did that rhyme go again? Uhhh… Day is best which can’t be beaten, but never red should be eaten. Dusk is turns rust, and green comes out in a bust. Blue is alright, but it only comes out in—”

Her eyes widened, looking up at the sky. The red hue was gone and the sky was slowly turning black as stars started to come out.

“ _Night._ ” She shot to her feet, taking off into a sprint as the land slowly began to turn dark. “ _Shit shit shit shit sssshhhhiiiiiiiiit!_ ” She ran between trees, hurrying as the area started to fade from her vision. “ _I forget how short dusk is in summer!_ ” She rounded a tree, nearly slipping. “Shit, shit, SHIT! Bernie!” She reached for her bear but only grabbed her lighter.

Pulling it out, she gave it a small look before holding it up to her ear and giving it a shake. The fuel sloshing inside gave her some reassurance. Small, but still very reassuring. “At least I still got you—”

She crashed into a tree, not watching where she was heading and slammed face first into a tree. Her back hit the ground ungracefully, holding her face as pain blossomed. “ _Oooooooowwww!_ ” She hissed, sitting up and giving the tree a small kick. “Stupid tree.” She glared at it before her eyes turned to horror as her vision and everything around her went dark.

Night had arrived.

“SSSSHIT!” She stood up, leaning against the tree for support. “Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh sh—!” Something hissed in the darkness.

Something deep, dark, menacing, and terrifyingly familiar.

Her heart nearly stopped. Her body went cold as ice.

_The Grue was coming for her._

“ ** _SHIT!_** ” She fumbled for her lighter, trying to open the little top and let the small flame come to life and save her. It nearly slipped out of her grip twice, and the hissing morphed into a deep rumbling growl that sounded _really_ close now. _Almost right in front of her._

“ _Ahhhhh shit shit shit come on!_ ” She pressed down on the device, but no light sprang up until she realized that she holding it upside down. The growl was louder. “ **FUCK!** ” She flipped the lighter around, pressing down on the lever and a tiny flame came to life and she looked up to see…

Eyes.

Wide round eyes that belong to a face that mirrored her own surprised expression. She stood frozen as she stared at the face that stared back at her. Neither moving nor blinking as both had their eyes locked on each other. The little lighter’s flame cast a low glow that didn’t provide enough light, but just enough for her to make out the sharp jaw and small pointed nose on the pale face that continued to look at her with unwavering surprise.

In her mind, she knew that she hadn’t seen another human in… years? Months? She didn’t know exactly how long she had seen any other human beings around, besides Maxwell and her own reflection in pond water, but she could defiantly tell that this looked like a human. A male if she had to guess right.

But she knew this wasn’t a human. She knew this world was full of dangers and monsters that jumped at any given opportunity to kill her. She knew she couldn’t trust what was before her.

Plus, the eyes were a dead giveaway that this guy wasn’t a human. His eyes were completely black with only with dots in them. Clearly not human. And clearly this was the work of Maxwell. Who else would pull something that would pull on her emotions and mess with her mind like this?

Putting on a brave face, she stomped her foot. “Hey! What’s the big idea huh?!” He blinked at her, his surprise look turning into shock. Like he wasn’t expecting her to move or do anything. Well to bad for him, she didn’t feel like giving him that satisfaction. “I don’t know if this is some sort of game to you, but let me tell you something! _It’s. Not. Funny._ ” She hissed out her words, glaring into his very surprised eyes. She leaned her head closer, feeling a small satisfaction as the guy moved his head back, eyes darting left and right.

“I’m out here trying to survive! And you have **_no_** idea how hard it is for that! I mean!” She threw her free hand up in the air. “Do you have _any_ idea what it’s like living out here having to worry about, like, **_everything?!_** ” She brought her arm down, listing off things with her free hand as the guy continued to watch her in mute surprise. “Food, shelter, weapons, monsters, the weather, and whole lot of other shit!” She took a bold step forward, which he flinched back from.

“And there’s these weird machines! Do have any idea how many times I got blasted, run over, and head-butted by those things?! It’s a living nightmare! And they don’t burn easy either!” She shook her lighter with fury, watching as the guy eyed it as he continued to slink backwards into the darkness. “And _that’s_ not the worst part! O-o-o-oh no! The worst part, is that some, stupid bozo comes right at me in the dark, scaring the _shit_ out of me, because he’s pretending to be that stupid, dump, bitch hecking, monstrous, twick bit, shit head _Grue_ whose too scared to even show their dumb fuck face all because they’re such a scared-cat when there’s a little light out and take such a _sick, **repulsive, DISGUSTING FUN**_ OUT OF MAKING MY LIFE **MISERABLE!** ” She screamed the last part out, panting as all the pent up rage she had been keeping inside her was finally let out, leaving her exhausted.

With a sigh, she glared at the guy, wanting to see if she had scared him off with her explosive rant.

He was far from the lighter’s light, but she could still seeing the outline of his shocked face. The shocked face that, slowly, turned into a frown, and then a glare. A very, very, **angry** glare. A glare that sent shivers down her spine and warning bells blaring in her mind. The guy took a step forward, and she suddenly found herself moving backwards as he slowly stalked up to her. The air suddenly felt cold, and the shadows beneath her feet started crawling up her legs.

She let out a small gasp as her back pressed against a tree, and the man kept coming at her, eyes locked on hers with anger that she had never seen before. He stopped right in front of her, and she suddenly realized how tall he was as he glared down at her. She wanted to run, but her legs were bound as thin shadow hands climbed up her waist. She could see the darkness swirling around his head, his white dot eyes turned into deep crimson slits as he lowered his head and deeply growled.

**_“W̵̤̺̪̅̈́̏̉̾̆̓͌̚H̴̡͕̬͙̜̺͇̩̅̎̄̂̆̀A̸̫͔̼̽̿͂͠T̸̛͕̪̱̰̈́͂́̔͝?”_ **

Her heart skipped a beat. Her arms suddenly dropped in shock hitting against the tree. And suddenly, there was bright light and the man screamed like he was in pain, and was suddenly gone. She stood there, her back against the warm, hot, bright, wonderful fire, sliding to the ground till she was sitting on her knees.

Only one thought ran through her mind as she sat there staring where the man had been. One thought that was sure to keep her awake for many nights to come.

_Was that… the Grue?_


	2. Daze

Summer, Day 11

~*~

Summer.

The mostly considered one of two safer parts of the year in this place. Not as peaceful as autumn, but still relatively safe enough that the only worry was saved for the Hounds and other dangers. The days were hot at most and there was the rare chance of rain fall on a random day, but it was still a safe season. There was even one aspect of it that made it more bearable than the dreaded winter and spring. Days were longer in summer with relatively short nights. That should be a comfort to know.

Except it wasn’t.

Nothing about it gave any sort of comfort to her fried nerves when she knew there was still one thing that she feared every day.

Darkness.

It was cold, unforgiving, full of unknown secrets, and very, very frightening.

She hated it ever since she was a small child. It was the exact opposite of a warm burning fire that soothed her worries away and steadied her sanity when she was on the verge of a break down. And no matter how much she burned everything and anything that was flammable, the darkness kept following her no matter where she went. From the world that was once her prison and hatred to this world where she was free to let out her passion.

But while fire could solve many things, it could never rid her of the darkness. She tried before. She had tried. But no matter how much wood or monsters she burned, the darkness kept creeping back as soon as the embers died away.

If there ever was an eternal fire that would burn forever to banish the darkness, she would gladly take it in a heartbeat without second thought. Heat and fire were her only true friends, aside from her favorite bear, and she could never part with such a beauty. She could spend hours on end in that fire and not part with it. No matter what.

Yet.

Here she was. Still laying inside her tent hugging her bear close to her chest while staring up at the fabric ceiling. Rays of sunlight peeked through the thin fabric, dusting her in a dusty pale gold color.

She hadn’t left the tent. Not for a while since she returned that night with her near close encounter with **death** itself. Still processing the event in her mind, unresponsive to the world out there. All she could think about was the white pinprick dot eyes that stared deep into her. Into her very soul.

She had seen many eyes on this island. The eyes that belonged to the very many that hunted her and tried to end her life, but would always end up being burned and crushed under her feet. She didn’t want to die. Not in this world were death was constant and some sort of entertainment for that sick, sick man.

But those eyes? The eyes that belong to the creature that was death incarnate? The eyes of a monster of shadows who ripped out the throats of those who dared to even step in the shadows? The eyes that belonged to a being who could not be seen nor killed? The eyes that still burned in her mind when she blinked or fell into a dreamless sleep? Those eyes that made the warm feeling of a bright, high, burning fire feel cold and small?

Those were the eyes she never wanted to see again.

She just wanted to stay where it was safe and not deal with the creature. The monster.

The _Grue._

A shudder went through her body as that name crossed her mind.

The Grue.

It was what everyone called the monster of darkness. The creature that attacked anything that entered the shadows with no mercy or care. The creature that killed without second thought. She had only heard snippets of the creature from the Pig Men she managed to befriend for a while.

It wasn’t much, just small details and warnings not to go into the darkness. Even Maxwell, for a sick man who enjoyed suffering, warned about the danger when night fell. Some of the monsters and creatures she had seen hid when the darkness fell upon the land.

The Grue seemed to attack everything and anything that wasn’t careful in the darkness. At least it wasn’t just her. Though that was hardly any better.

Dying by the Grue’s hand was the worst way to go. It was painful. Cold. Suffocating. And slow. It wasn’t quick and painless, but dragging out as the feeling of insides being torn to shreds lingered inside the body.

Even after revival.

The cold feeling with the lingering pain.

It was a feeling that followed you in death and in life. No matter how you may try to escape it. It was always there.

The Grue.

The only thing that she feared more than darkness. The unknown being. The unseen creature.

A monster.

~*~

She didn’t know how much time had passed before she finally left the tent. But she did know that she left it for a reason.

Her stomach.

Hunger pains were horrible to deal with. Even if she tried to ignore it, the pain would still be there unless she filled her stomach with something soon.

Her gaze landed on the drying racks, finding that the meat she had left it to dry had turned into jerkies. She had forgotten that she had hung up meat on the drying racks. Shrugging, she took both of the jerkies down and placed one in her pocket and nibbled on the other.

She went over to the stack of logs placed against the wall, taking one of the larger logs and placing it into the normal fire pit. The fire sprung to life after some encouragement from her lighter. Once it was high enough, she sat down, putting her legs in the fire, letting the flames sooth away her worries while munching on the jerky and hugging her bear.

She kept staring into the fire, her mind wandering around as she kept thinking about her Grue encounter. Sighing, she took the half finish jerky out of her mouth and held the bear to eye level. “Bernie… there’s… something that I have to tell you.”

The bear stared at her silently. “Remember… when I went out that one night? The night I left to get a mushroom? Because you forgot to tell me we were out of them?” The bear continued to stare. “Well…” She shuffled her feet in the fire pit, feeling like a small child confessing to an adult about doing something naughty. “Remember… how I came back the next day? With no mushroom to make the chili?”

The bear’s head flopped to one side. “We stayed in the tent because I didn’t want to leave it. And I was… scared.” The fire danced behind the bear, casting a shadow over its face. “Of what? Oh. No, it wasn’t that. It was… something else. Something… bad.” She lowered the bear down, running her thumb over its fabric arm.

“Something that… that really scared me. Really bad.” The eyes flashed in her mind, making her shudder. “I… do… do you remember what those Pig People said? About how it’s dangerous to go out in the darkness?”

The bear was silent as ever. “N-no! No! I’m alright. I came back alive didn’t I? I didn’t get hurt or anything… th-though… I was really, really close to dying that night.”

Silence took over the camp for a few seconds. “Bernie? Bernie. Ber-Bernie! Whoa! Hey! Chill! I’m okay!” She lifted the bear above her head. “Really I’m fine! I’m all here no need to freak out! See? Arms. Legs. Hair. Head. They’re still all there and still moving.” The bear stared down at her.

“Oh you just worry too much.” She rolled her eyes, lowering the bear down to eye level again. “No, you really worry too much. You overreact to the slightest things that I do. Even when it’s completely harmless!”

…

“No, I blame you on that day. You were supposed to keep an eye out and warn me. But you were looking the other way when that Tallbird popped out of nowhere!”

…

“I still managed to kill it! No thanks to your help or anything.”

…

“That Hound attack started because that jerk Maxwell sent them on me. You know those dogs would have left me alone if the jerk hadn’t made them chase after my behind!”

…

“Well everything here is Maxwell’s fault anyway. If he hadn’t tricked me into coming here, we wouldn’t have had to struggle as much to survive there as we do here. He’s the reason why everything is hell for us here all the time.”

…

“That’s not the point I’m trying to tell you here! What I’m trying to tell you is that… that…” She went silent, looking at the bear in her hands. She continued to stare at the toy for a long while before sighing. “That… I _saw_ them.”

The bear stared at her. “No, no. Not them. _Them._ The—” She stopped, looking around before pulling the bear close and whispering to its half damaged ear. “ _The Grue._ ” Even saying its name gave her a shudder. The bear didn’t say anything. “Yeah, you know. The darkness? The thing that the Pigs kept wetting themselves about when night fell. I _saw them_.”

She pointed at herself, feeling dread as the memory of that night played in her mind. “I _saw_ them! No joke! I was this close to death! Real close Bernie! Super close to dying that night and I almost did! _Almost_. But I didn’t. The night was coming close and my lighter wasn’t working an-and there was a **_deep growling_** noise and I was almost dead but then I managed to get the lighter working and there he was! Well didn’t know it was the Grue. N-Not until I started insulting him and he got mad at me…” Her voice trailed off.

She could still remember that face. The surprised look that he gave her as they stared at each other. The pale skin. The small pointed nose. The sharp jaw. _The eyes._

A cold shudder went through her, despite the fire and the hot day keeping her body warm.

“I saw… the Grue… that night.” She mumbled, hugging her bear closely to her chest. “I… I almost _died_ that night…” She went silent, watching the fire burn and sat there unmoving.

It didn’t escape her how she narrowly avoided death that night. If she hadn’t accidentally set that tree on fire, she was certain that she was as good as dead at that moment. And while fire normally made her happy and full of energy, she could feel nothing but shock from the close encounter of nearly missing death by a hair.

She didn’t feel her normal self even when she lit up other trees to keep the Grue away the rest of the night. No joy or happiness. Just… empty and lifeless. The forest was probably gone by now, but she could care less about it.

The Grue was all that mattered.

Her close encounter with him left her shaken. Even if it was only a small encounter, just a couple of small minutes, it was enough to leave a very scary memory in her mind that would forever be remembered.

But what if she had made it worse now?

The thought crossed her mind, thinking back to the insults she threw at him before she even knew who he was.

She covered her mother in horror.

_Oh shit._

_She insulted the Grue right into his face!_

“Oh shit. I’ve made a big mistake.” She muttered, feeling dread crawling up her back. “Oh shit! I insulted him. Right in the face! Oh SHIT! What if I made surviving worse now?! Is he going to try and kill me very night now?! What if he tries to kill me in my sleep?! Or take away my light?! Or just attack me when dusk falls o-or—wh-what? What?” She looked at the bear. “What is it?”

It stared at her.

“… yeah. Th-that’s what I said.”

It stared.

“… Of course he looked like a male. Even the voice that guy had sounded scary. But defiantly male.”

The button eye stared at her.

“… what?”

Silence.

“Whoa whoa wait. Would do you mean that couldn’t be the Grue?”

Silent.

“Well, maybe they just got that bit wrong. I mean, no one acutely saw the guy before so maybe they just—”

The button stared.

“Well no. I didn’t see the Grue before that night, so I don’t know if that’s what he really looked like.”

Stare.

“… What do you mean?”

Stare.

“No. Wait. Stop. What do you mean that can’t be the real Grue? It had to be! The guy was total darkness and everything!”

Stare.

“Well maybe they got the gender wrong!”

Stare.

“…”

…

“…”

…

“… Ssssooo… You think this guy… isn’t the Grue?”

The bear only stared at her.


End file.
